Conference delegates raise £50 for Climbie fund (Swindon Liberal Democrats)

Swindon Liberal Democrats <info@swindonlibdems.org>

Conference delegates raise £50 for Climbie fund

February 28, 2005 1:20 PM

eight year old Victoria Climbie died in Feb 2000

Last Friday 25th February the Swindon Area Child Protection Committee held a one-day conference at Oakfield University Campus to ensure that local agencies learned from the serious case reviews that have happened in Swindon. Those attending the conference were from the fields of social workers, police, youth offending teams and education.

The date coincided with the fifth anniversary of the Victoria Climbie case, an eight-year-old girl from the Ivory Coast murdered by her great-aunt who was looking after her whilst she went to school in England.

Liberal Democrat Leader, Cllr Chris Shepherd said:

"This important conference was held to discuss and review serious child protection incidents in Swindon including a young person dying of a drug overdose and a father who sexually abused his daughter resulting in the birth of six children.

"I proposed that as this conference fell on the same anniversary of the death of Victoria Climbie, it would be appropriate for delegates to donate money to the Climbie trust fund."

Victoria Climbie's mother said she felt British people didn't care at the time of her child's death so, Devon lawyer Caroline Ingram set up the Victoria Climbie Charitable Trust.

The reason Victoria came to the UK was because there were no schools in her village. The trusts aim is to build a school in her village so that other children do not have to make the same journey for a decent education.

Donations of loose change were collected at the conference for the Trust. A total of £50.00 was raised.

EDITORS NOTE:

Eight year-old Victoria Climbie died in February 2000 from hypothermia, malnutrition and physical abuse suffered at the hands of her carers, a great aunt and her cohabitee. The great aunt had brought Victoria from the Ivory Coast to France and then to London, supposedly to improve her education. During the last 10 months of her life, Victoria had been known to the social services departments of four local authorities and two police child protection teams and admitted with suspected non-accidental injuries to the paediatric wards of two difference hospitals within the space of ten days.